The Indian film industry has transformed itself in the last few years. The crossover between Bollywood and the regional film industries has become quite prominent with actors, filmmakers, production houses joining hands for various projects.
While for actors this is about expanding their base, for viewers it's a treat to see stars from B-town and regional cinema coming together on the silver screen. Here's a list of 8 female actors of Bollywood who are doing exceptionally well in regional cinema as well.
Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee Pannu has dabbled in both Hindi and southern cinema since her debut with the Telugu film Jhummandi Naadam in 2010 — and her Tamil debut Aadukalam won six National Film Awards at the 58th National Film Awards. Taapsee believes one of the reasons that regional cinema is now receiving attention is its availability on different platforms, giving it more visibility. With a number of untitled regional projects under her kitty, it looks like Taapsee is all set to conquer the entire Indian market very soon! We wish her all the luck!
Wamiqa Gabbi
Known for her short but effective performance in Kabir Khan's cricket drama, '83', Wamiqa was most recently seen in the Netflix original crime drama, 'Mai' opposite Sakshi Tanwar. Wamiqa was recently seen in Amazon Prime Video's anthology Modern Love Mumbai, she was part of the episode Mumbai Dragon directed by maverick Vishal Bharadwaj.
The actor also actively works in Punjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. In-fact, Wamiqa's latest Punjabi film, 'Galwakdi' had a pretty good spell at the box office, both at a regional and national level. The actor plans to do more Punjabi and Tamil films in the coming months, with titles like 'Iravaakaalam' & 'Kikli' already locked for Wamiqa, we know for a fact that the upcoming quarter would be a complete treat for her fans all over the country!
Kriti Kharbanda
Kriti Kharbanda began her journey in showbiz with a south film, and later went on to do more than a dozen regional films before she made a debut in Bollywood. The actor believes that real superstardom can only be witnessed down south - with fans literally worshiping their favourite actors.As she continues to do more and more Hindi films, the actress likes to pick up south films in between, and we wish her all the luck she needs for them!
Pooja Hegde
Pooja Hegde made her acting debut in a Tamil film, Mugamoodi (2012) followed by her Telugu film debut in Oka Laila Kosam, opposite Naga Chaitanya Akkineni and Hindi film debut in Ashutosh Gowariker's Mohenjo Daro (2016) opposite Hrithik Roshan.The actor made a comeback with Akshay Kumar's Housefull 4 and there has been no stopping her since.
After making a clear mark for herself in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, the actor is all set to conquer Bollywood as well. With big-budget films like Rohit Shetty's 'Cirkus' and Sajid Nadiadwala's 'Housefull 5' under her belt, we can safely say that Pooja is all set to do so as well!
Rakul Preet Singh
After dominating regional cinema with films like ‘NTR: Kathanayakudu,’ ‘Dev,’ ‘NGK,’ ‘Manmadhudu 2’, and others, Rakul Preet made her Hindi film debut with ‘Yaariyan.’ After earning a name for herself in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada film, she rapidly followed up her Bollywood debut with back-to-back hits like ‘Aiyaary,’ ‘De De Pyaar De,’ ‘Sardar Ka Grandson,’ ‘Attack,’ and now ‘Runway 34,’ which is a fan favourite due to her versatile and strong performance.
Well, all we can say is that Rakul Preet Singh is on her way to becoming the film industry’s first-ever pan-India female superstar, thanks to her nuanced, delicate, and rich performances in many languages.
Disha Patani
Disha Patani made her debut in films with the Telugu action flick 'Loafer'. She was paired alongside Varun Tej. The film went on to do well and it even gave the actor the opportunity to star in Hindi films like 'M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story' and 'Bharat'.
The latest news is that Disha Patani has also joined the cast of Prabhas and Deepika Padukone's 'Project K' which is a science fiction film, directed by Nag Ashwin. This is definitely an exciting piece of news for her fans all over the country and we wish her all the love and luck!
Saiyami Kher
Saiyami started her acting journey with Telugu film Rey opposite Sai Dharam Tej. She made her debut in Hindi cinema with Mirzya directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. She was later seen in another Telugu film Wild Dog that has a mix of both south and Bollywood actors including Nagarjuna Akkineni, Dia Mirza, Saiyami Kher and Atul Kulkarni.
Being a maharashtrian she was also seen in a Marathi film Mauli with Ritesh Deshmukh that did well. Saiyami shuttling between the industries is now part of another Telugu film titled Highway co-starring Anand Deverakonda. Saiyami also has an impressive line-up in Hindi cinema as well with Ghoomer, Faadu, and Breathe into the Shadows season 2 amongst others.
Rashmika Mandana
Rashmika is already making waves before her Hindi films Mission Majnu with Sidharth Malhotra and Goodbye with Amitabh Bachchan hitting the marquee. She is considered to be an actress to look out for in Bollywood. Rashmika is a well known actress down south predominantly working in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil cinemas.
Her recently released Telugu film Pushpa: The Rise already made her a household name amongst the pan India audience with the immensely viral song Srivalli. We wish her all the best for her debut in Hindi cinema.